Film Analysis - 'The Shape of Water' (Directed by Guillermo del Toro)

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Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFYWazblaUA

'The Shape of Water', directed by Guillermo del Toro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_del_Toro) is a fantastical, romantic picture presenting itself with a running time of 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes); the film was created with a (relatively small) budget of 19.5 million US dollars and grossed over 92.3 million in the box office.
The plot of the film is seemingly based within the 1960's with an aesthetic that obviously suits the style of its director (Guillermo del Toro), showing some resemblance to some of his earlier films, such as 'Hellboy' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_(2004_film)). The way the characters of this story are presented also greatly matches Guillermo del Toro as it projects the protagonists in a light that greatly emphasises their importance and somewhat alienates them from the norm of the world they reside within (, again much like 'Hellboy').
The settings featured in the film are very stylised, the 1960's aesthetic is so obviously present in most of the scenes that eventually it seems to convey a sort of familiarity to the viewer, even in scenes of intense drama and tension, this gives the plot a sort of figurative anchor that prevents it from feeling like the story is leading itself off course. The use of lighting to change the atmosphere in the film is rather frequent, the usage of green/blue colours is remarkably present and gives the film a sort of affinity for water which suits the main characters and themes tremendously.

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